by Jester Joker
I carefully crack open the window and sneak in. I don't know how good the guy's hearing is, so I won't test it. It's bizarre walking through all the bodies standing still, like one of those cheesy Xmas specials where the main characters can't be seen or heard by those around them.
I get to Will. At first he seems as frozen as the rest of them, but his eyes are moving. I don't know how much time I have before the guy upstairs figures out he's not gonna find my corpse, so I try to cram as much information into each sentence as possible.
"Snap out of it, Will," I whisper to him, not meaning to make a play on his code name. "We need to get these hostages out of here. At first I was thinking if I could lure him away from this floor I could just fry him right off, but we still don't know the extent of his power. He may be like a powder keg or something, one spark and he takes the whole place down, so we need it empty to confront him. I need you to start moving and get these people out of here. Come on."
Will's eyes look anguished. He's not moving any faster. Lord, his confidence must be completely shot right now. I close my eyes and take a deep breath: I know I'm going to regret this later. When I open my eyes, I talk again, making the look in my eyes softer than usual. "Will, baby," I say, my voice sweet as honey. "I can't do this alone. I need your speed and your strength right now." From the look on his face, all I've done is confuse him. He's probably going to make another pass at me after we get out of this... unless I'm lucky enough that we don't get out of this.
Okay, different tactic is needed. I make my voice harsh again. "Dammit, Will, you can move thousands of miles in less than a second. I don't care that this fucker thinks he can slow down time, he can't slow YOU down. You just need to get your head out of your ass long enough to realize this fuck-head can't stand up to the two of us!" I wonder for a moment if I should hit him, then decide that would probably make only me feel better. I judge his reaction through his eyes(although his fingers appear to be moving slightly), and I'm not seeing anything encouraging right now.
There's one last chance I have to get him out of this stupor. I didn't want to resort to this, and he's probably going to hate me for it later, but he's left me no choice. I let out a frustrated sigh.
"Your father was right," I say with as much bluntness and insensitivity as possible. "You should never have tried to be like him." The flare that starts in his eyes seem to shoot a spasm throughout his body. I have to keep pressing on this one. "What, you don't like me saying that? Let's face it, it's the fucking truth. If your old man was still around, Vertigo Man would have been defeated before he realized he was in a fight yesterday." Will is slowly regaining his balance right now, so I can't stop yet. "The Swift would never have even needed a partner to fuck this guy's shit up."
I have to hide my glee as Will now looks like he's walking through molasses. I've probably already done enough, but, just in case... "Oh, you think that just because you've managed to put your right foot in front of your left one that means something, that maybe it means you got what it takes to fight heavy hitters like this? You have to walk before you run, sure, but real men like your father were running years ago." That one did it, I think. Something snaps in his demeanor, both his fists clench, and I can tell he's approaching his full speed again.
Which is good, because unless I'm paranoid, I hear footsteps.